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Another policy question is what level of certification should be required. LEED has four levels of certification -Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum -with increasingly stringent criteria and potential impacts on project costs. The few studies that have been done on construction projects within the US indicate that in almost all cases, a Silver rating can be achieved without significantly increased costs. The increased cost of achieving a Gold rating falls within the range of 0% to 10% of total project costs, with a 4% to 5% increase above a Silver rating being a reasonable expectation. The estimated additional cost of meeting LEED criteria presume that the designer is experienced in sustainable design, and that sustainable building elements are incorporated early in the design process: . The recommendation is .that, for new construction, certification be at the Si h ~. level, with a higher level of certification sought where judged economically advantageous over the life of a building and where funding can be obtained to meet any construction cost increases. ror other construction and existing buildings that are to be certified, the level of certification must b e~~alu~jted;n a case-by-case basis to achieve the optimal environmental, social and economic benefits ~. How Will the Policy Be Implemented? ~ ~ ~ The sustainable, building policy will be implemented b~- i n c l uding integrated design,~li l e cy cle~assessment and commissioning as standard operating practices in the design, construction and upertion of City buildings. Integrated Design provides a framework for. applying the principles of sustainability to building design. Integrated design considers a building's desi structure, and systems in,a holistic manner in an effort to .optimize their interaction for economic and ens n~oniT~'cittal benefits. I,ntebrated design looks beyond the . .traditional, linear design process and simple q ~~stions of s5~stem sizin d specification, and sees the building's design, envelope, lighting, and HVA s intc/~ral to occz~p comfort, satisfaction and operat- ing performance. Effective integrated design cons~de~~and solves a ariety of relevant issues simultane- ously. An essential aspect ~~ s~iccessful intc~~r<<ted design is fife . yele Assessment (LCA), including life-cycle cost analysis in which the net present ~~ lue of design op ions are assessed as investments. LCA is an inclusive.approach to assessing t}ie em~iro t tal and fiinancial impact of a program, facility, or group of facilities, and ei1~g~~asscs plannin~~, drsi~~n, construction, operation, and maintenance over the useful life of a facilit~~.. } he goal of LC;~ is to achieve the highest, most cost-effective environmental performance possible o~~er the life of the prn_jcct. ~~%}ten integrated design and. life cycle assessment are combined, better and ^~ore affordable d~velopntent str<<tegies emerge. Due to the de4elo}tiing nature of sustainable building practices and appearance of new technologies, life cycle cost infonn~~i%n may not he available for the full range of sustainable design or program options. In this case, the economic critcri~i may be applied that sustainable measures be initially cost neutral, or for long-term cost saving n ~ ai ~ u res with higher initial costs, have a payback period of up to 10 years. Another aspect of implementing a sustainable building policy is the adoption of Commissioning as a standard practice. Commissioning is a way of ensuring that specific performance standards for building systems are included in the project specifications, and that a building's systems are meeting those performance criteria once a project is completed. Commissioning is an added project management tool, and .can increase the initial cost of construction. However, proper implementation of commissioning should decrease the long-term operating cost of a building's heating and cooling system and overall energy use: For existing buildings, adoption of commissioning as an operating practice would be a new program, with abenefit/cost impact dependent on the nature of each specific building. Commissioning is a LEED requirement for any building, new or existing, to achieve certification. For 5